


Inverted

by Random_Chaos



Series: Inter-Dimensional Havoc [2]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Opposites, Angry Ghostbur is Angry, Gen, I guess you can describe it like that, Mirror Universe, Nightmare is sweet and a little dumb, Opposites, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Manberg-Pogtopia War on Dream Team SMP (Video Blogging RPF), Tommy has some trauma, Tubbo's opposite is a jerk, and no spoilers but he's an evil jerk too, but we love him anyway
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-18 00:33:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28858167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Random_Chaos/pseuds/Random_Chaos
Summary: While mining, Tommy finds a big-ass mirror-portal thing. Being a mature person, thank you very much, he doesn't do anything about it. Then of course Dream drags him back to investigate.When he touches the portal, he sure as hell didn't expect another him.Or the bullshit that ensued.(Tommy-centric!)
Relationships: ALL PLATONIC
Series: Inter-Dimensional Havoc [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2116125
Comments: 29
Kudos: 176





	1. TommyOutit, Take Two

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, we're back online!
> 
> I still want to see more universe-swap shit.

Walking into that room was probably the worst and best thing that happened to Tommy. He was having a normal day in exile, well as normal as that could be here, mining for iron so he could get a new axe. It was dark as he'd forgotten to bring torches and too late to go and get them. He nearly had to go back anyway, it was almost sunset. 

Tommy basically lost himself in the monotone working of mining when he broke through. He blinked in confusion as he was mining close to the surface. Most people dug deeper, and besides, there was no one else but him and the occasional visitor (Dream, he was talking about Dream) here.

And Dream had no need for iron. So, who'd been here?

He mined the surrounding stone out, walking into a spacious room. In the centre is a weird portal-like structure that Tommy is instantly wary of.

It's built similar to a Nether Portal, but with a strange opalescent marbled stone instead of obsidian. The inside is reflective, like glass. It shows his worn, sleep-deprived face and his ragged shirt and Tommy winces.

Tommy looks up at the ceiling. It's made of dirt, so they're probably close to the surface. Taking out his shovel, he stands to the side and digs away the dirt until there's a human-sized hole leading to the surface. Interestingly enough, he was right. It was quite close to open air, only about three or four blocks deep.

He wondered if Dream had done this to prank him or something, but where and how did he get the materials to make that portal? 

Tommy finds his base near the new portal. He trudges back with a bunch of stone and some iron ore when Dream practically materialised beside him. 

Tommy gave a yelp and scrambled back. Dream smirked behind his mask.

"Hello, Tommy." He greets casually. It's at this point in which Tommy is now deeply suspicious. Dream's here, when he doesn't usually visit, right after Tommy finds the portal.

"Hello, Dream." Tommy answers flatly. He decides to be blunt. "Build anything lately? Like– portals or some shit?" 

Dream tilts his head slightly, and Tommy is disappointed when Dream answers with a suspicious "No." However, he's cut off from going through a list of other people who may have built the thing when he asks, "What's that light?"

Coming from the hole to the portal is a pulsating light, green and blue and red and yellow and orange and purple and all the colours, all at once blending into an almost blindness-inducing white light.

Now, Tommy was very familiar with torches. He'd admittedly stared at them for hours when he had nothing better to do. Fiddled with combinations of Redstone, Soul Fire and normal torches for the best, most efficient type of torch available.

This was not a torch.

Obviously, it was the portal.

"I... Dunno." Tommy flinches when Dream's hand makes contact with his shoulder and almost runs off when he begins steering him towards the light. His fight-or-flight is activated and he wants to leave, go back to his little tent.

Nothing good will come out of this. He knows.

As they say, curiosity killed the cat.

Tommy struggled, trying to scramble away from the hole dropping down to the portal. Dream's grip on him tightened, and he whispered into Tommy's ear, "Tommy, we're friends, right? Do you want me to leave? Then jump down. I looked, it's not deep."

Tommy trembled and weighed his options. On one hand, he makes a run for it and risks being killed or incapacitated, and losing his only friend (Dream's not his friend). On the other, he doesn't get killed immediately and whatever happens to him because of that portal... Happens.

He's roughly shoved down the hole he'd made to the portal, taking a heart's worth of damage. The portal's light is practically blinding, making Tommy squint and not notice Dream hopping down after him.

"What's this?" Dream asks. The pure, genuine confusion in his tone makes Tommy think 'wait, it's not him who built it.' 

That begs the question- who (or what) did?

Dream walks around the portal for a minute or two, then takes Tommy by the arm and drags him over. He points to it, "Did you make this?" He asks. Tommy shakes his head furiously.

The frame of the portal had runes carved into them; Tommy hadn't noticed that before. His reflection stared back at him, face one part terror and two parts confusion. Overcome with curiosity, he reached out towards the portal. Besides, what could it do, kill him?

That would be fucking great.

Dream registered what he was doing too late, and reached out to smack his hand away-

A bright light exploded the instant he made contact with the cold surface of the portal, and he and Dream were blown off their feet. They landed on opposite sides of the room, and Tommy hit the wall.

—

Far away, Techno felt a tremor in the Earth followed by a gust of wind. It came from Tommy's place- what was it called again? Logstershire? Logsteadshire? Hah? It didn't matter if he got it wrong, it wasn't relevant to him anyways.

But he needed to see the source of the tremor.

—

Tubbo looked up from his paperwork. He'd felt a slight shaking of the floor, not dissimilar to a faraway explosion. He shivered at the comparison and hoped that there were no explosives involved. 

'Your Tommy' -which was placed on his desk- shifted slightly and Tubbo stood up. Was that explosion where Tommy was? Should he go see? That surely was a coincidence. Right? 

–

Tommy opened his eyes. He wasn't unconscious, it was just that the light had grown to insufferable amounts, and combined with the shockwave that had rippled out he'd covered his head. 

Standing up, Tommy noticed the room was unharmed and Dream also appeared to be fine. What caught his attention, however, was the other him in the room.

The two Tommys gawked at each other, taking in their opposite's clothes. Other Tommy had a white shirt with green-blue (aquamarine? Tommy wasn't one to nitpick at stupid things like colours) accents contrasting his own red-accented shirt. It was also a lot cleaner than his own hobo outfit.

To top it all off, Other Tommy had the wide-eyed, not innocent but more hopelessly optimistic look that Tubbo usually had. He took a step back, and the silent spell was broken. 

"AAAAAAAH WHAT THE FUCK?" Tommy screeched. Other Tommy (He was just gonna call him Blue Tommy for now) flinched and gave a frown, opening his mouth and then closing it.

Dream got up and took in the situation, mouth forming a small "o" beneath his mask. 

"Holy shit," Tommy exclaimed. "There's another me!" Blue Tommy looked quite worried, about what he didn't know.

Blue Tommy spoke up, "who are you and where am I?" His voice was exactly like his own, but it was softer, quieter. It really, really reminded him of Tubbo. He squashed down that thought.

"Yeah, well who are you?" Tommy shot back. 

Blue Tommy turned to Tommy, surprised. "Woah, you- you sound like me. I'm Tommy, by the way. TommyOutit." 

"No way! I'm also Tommy! TommyInnit, big man and famous author of the How to Sex series." He proclaimed. TommyOutit snorted through his nose. 

"Uh, Tommy-" Dream started, and both Tommys swiveled their heads around to look at him, prompting Dream to pinch his nose and exhale. "And my point is proven before I even begin... Shouldn't you assign nicknames, since your names are the same? Except for the last bit, but you two don't use them often." The Tommys looked at each other. Dream had a point.

"Ooh!" TommyOutit clapped his hands together. "He's right! I'll be Outit, you'll be Innit!" Tommy, the original, thought it was stupid- but he didn't have the heart to say no. 

"Sure." Said the newly nicknamed Innit plainly. "That big green asshole over there is Dream, by the way." He pointed at Dream, who fixed him with a cold glare.

"Language, and yes I assumed so," Outit said, surprising both the people there. Dream did a double-take while Tommy sputtered, "L- Language? Holy shit, my opposite is Badboyhalo!" That prompted another 'language' from Outit.

"How did you know, though?" Dream asked, leaning against the wall.

"Oh, in my place he's... Red, and called Nightmare. And he has a frowny mask," Outit framed his hands with his face to emphasise. "And the opposite of a nightmare is a dream, right?" He reasoned.

Innit blinked. That was some damn good reasoning actually. But this Tommy was basically his opposite. Shy, quiet, reasons things out- 

"Wait, so you said Nightmare, right?" Innit asked. Outit nodded. "So there's like, a whole parallel timeline full of opposite us's?" He joked.

Dream visibly thought about it. "That's a very plausible reason, actually." he smiled scarily, and while Innit was used to it, Outit visibly flinched and backed away. "I'm going to need to think about this. Tommy, uh, Innit, stay here with our... Guest." He jumped up the hole, lifting himself out and leaving.

"... " Tommy stated at other Tommy. "So, wanna leave?" Outit nodded silently, and the two jumped out as well.

"So what happened here?" Outit asked. "Your story, I mean. How'd you get exiled? Because I assume you're exiled, this doesn't look at all like New L'Manburg." Innit took a deep breath, and started.

—

Tubbo frowned, tapping his compass. It kept swivelling between one spot and an other spot, still in the direction of Tommy but almost as if there were two of him. The two spots it was swerving to weren't far apart at all, and Tommy couldn't be dead because the compass wasn't spinning around aimlessly...

What happened over there?

—

"Wow," Outit said finally. Huddled in the tent, the two exchanged stories.

Tommy nodded. Outit hugged him, a surprised noise coming from Innit who certainly didn't expect it. He returned the hug, of course. Obviously. He wasn't going to leave someone hanging.

"What about you? How'd you get exiled?" Innit asked. Outit tensed.

"Well, it- I- So, your Tubbo in my world is called Toobo, and he... Acts a little like you. But more... Mature." Outit said. Tommy rolled his eyes, of course he'd be indirectly called immature by himself, of all people.

"So when Nightmare came and demanded the discs because me and Booran (That's your Ranboo, I think), I was actually going to give it to him... For the nation, you know? I didn't want to let it go, but sacrifices have to be made. But Toobo didn't want that to happen... He snatched the discs away and exiled me." Outit said.

Tommy shuddered. Opposite Tubbo didn't sound like a good person at all.

"Nightmare took pity, he helped me build my fort- Nightmare's a builder y'know. Famous for it. But it wasn't the same." Outit whispered the last part. "I wanted to go back. So I was mining for some iron, and I found the portal, told Nightmare, and touched it and now I'm here." Outit finished, a little lamely.

"That sounds tough, Outit." Tommy patted him on the back. "Good on you for staying alive." Outit smiled. "It's getting late," he yawned out. "We should go to sleep."

"Yeah."

And so each went to sleep beside each other, warmer than they'd been in the past few nights of their exile. 

—

The citizens of New L'Manburg looked visibly strained when Dream showed up. "You might want to check this out," He began.


	2. Google Search: How to Tell My Enemy's Opposite That I'm Not His Version of Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shenanigans ensue, and a kidnapping with good intentions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooooooooo, this chapter was beta read by my friend Closeted_Bookworm!!! Go check her stuff out, she writes like a god and this chapter wouldn't be half as good without the help.

“No, no. That’s not possible. I don’t believe you.” Tubbo said. He shook his head furiously and backed away. The other citizens whispered among themselves,  disbe lieving .

_ “Has Dream gone off the deep end?” _

_ “Hasn’t he already?” _

_ “What kind of portal even does that?” _

“B ut yes it is. There’s a portal. There’s another Tommy, who acts much differently.” Dream’s face melted into something a little more genuine. “Come and see. Look, I won’t harm you, I promise. Let’s call a truce for the time being. I’m as curious about it as you, Tubbo, and I was there.”

Tubbo sighed, then nodded. “Alright, I’ll go.”

* * *

Tommy awoke to the warm sensation of being hugged. His tired brain didn’t register the events of the day prior, and he sleepily attempted to push the other person off. “God, Tubbo, you’re so fucking clingy…”

When he heard the ‘Language’, he blinked awake. Tommy saw Outit hugging tightly against him, brows furrowed.

He slowly rose up, looking outside of the tent. It was sunny, with white, puffy clouds in the distance. A horse grazed in the distance. Tommy turned and shook Outit awake, soft mumbles of protest muffled by Outit’s face being smushed into the side of the tent.

“Get up big man, we’ve got a long day ahead of us.” Tommy said. Outit finally woke up, dragging his feet outside the tent. Innit handed him a stone axe (his iron one had gotten burned, which was why he’d been mining, remember) and instructed him to get some wood for a pickaxe so they could mine some stone and iron.

Outit was surprisingly compliant, Tommy found. His opposite stayed true to his name, humming a small tune as he quietly chopped down a tree. Unlike Innit, he tended to be a rule-follower and wasn’t usually chaotic for the sake of being chaotic.

Also, he had good posture. Tommy self-consciously straightened his shoulders with a frown. 

Once Outit got a pick, the two proceeded down towards the mines. However, a cough sounded behind them and they whipped around to see Dream back.

With Tubbo. 

Outit immediately flinched and made a face that looked like he was trying not to cry. Tommy didn’t blame him, he personally wanted to deck Tubbo. (He didn’t. He was glad to see Tubbo alive and well.)

“Tommy, what- who is  _ that _ ?” Tubbo finally said, pointing at Outit, who curled his shoulders in and edged behind Tommy. 

“That’s uh, TommyOutit, he came from the portal.” Innit side-stepped, revealing Outit, who edged forwards and held out his hand for a handshake. Tubbo looked surprised, but collected himself and shook it lightly.

“And I thought Dream was lying…” Tubbo gave a sidelong glance at Dream, who hadn’t said anything thus far, electing to stand a little ways away and do… Whatever he was doing.

Looking around, he spotted the hole leading to the portal. “What’s that?” he pointed. The portal was still glowing, evident by the beacon-like light that was radiating from the pit. 

“Oh, that’s just the portal Outit came out of,” replied Tommy. It felt nice to hear Tubbo’s voice again. Even if he was basically only here on business. 

“A portal, huh?” came a familiar voice. Dream, Tubbo and both Tommys turned around to see a tall, pink-haired, and tusked figure getting off his horse. The originals were instantly on the defensive, Tommy instinctively edging towards Tubbo. However, Outit’s face lit up and he ran towards Techno.

“Tecchie!!!” Outit launched himself at Techno, hugging the pig hybrid furiously. He froze up at the contact and after one, maybe two seconds of tense silence none too gently pried Outit off.

“Heh? Who’s this? Tommy, you have a long-lost twin or something?” He growled, shaking him off. Outit looked at him with wide eyes, thoroughly captivated by the warrior’s intimidating presence. “Hi, I’m TommyOutit! You must be Tecchiesheath’s opposite.”

While Outit was busy being clingy, Techno make eye contact with Dream, an accusatory look on his face. Dream met his gaze unflinchingly. Tubbo, however, only stared at Outit. Tommy vaguely wondered what he was thinking.

Probably something about Outit. Tubbo’d probably like him more than the original Tommy. They were basically on the same wavelength after all. Tommy had found that out after spending a little time with Outit. He reminded him  _ painfully _ of Tubbo.

“Outit, get back here.” Tommy said. He shot a halfhearted glare at Technoblade, who stared back at him impassively. Dream cleared his throat and they looked at him.

“Perhaps it’s time to try and get Outit home.” He said. Both Tommys started making complaints, Innit loudly protesting while Outit shook his head and pleaded quietly. Meanwhile Techno simply looked on, confused, and Tubbo was laughing.

It felt kind of nice. He’d missed their bickering since he was exiled. 

Dream sighed. “Look, Tommy-” Both Tommys looked at him, and he corrected, “Innit, the other world is probably worried about him right now. They might be looking for him. In fact, they probably are right now.”   
  


“Er, last I checked no one would notice he’s gone because he’s  _ exiled _ , Dream.” Tommy replied, raising an eyebrow. Outit looked at Tommy. 

“Well, Nightmare would be looking for me, probably.” He said. “I mean, he helped me when I got exiled. I guess he felt guilty for losing his temper, even if he regretted it later.” Outit added, and Tommy fleetingly wondered how Outit could be this open with what were effectively strangers.

“And maybe Tecchiesheath and Redza. The portal’s right there, I can probably just walk through and be out of your hair.” He realised that Redza was Phil’s counterpart, and he wondered what kind of person he was. Regular Phil was pretty nice, if kind of a sub-par dad. How different would he be?

“Speaking of the portal, how’d it even get there?” Techno asked. 

Tommy shrugged. “Dunno.” Now that he thought about it, it really was a mystery on how that thing got there. Maybe a glitch, although that didn’t happen often anymore. But could you really consider something so intricately crafted with what looked like  _ opposite freaking obsidian _ a glitch? 

Usually glitches were some random hole in the ocean where there was supposed to be seawater, or weird-looking blocks. A really, really long time ago there used to be a lot of glitches, and a lot of them involved flying for some reason? But nothing like this.

It couldn’t be something as simple as a glitch.

“Well, you could stay the night,” suggested Tommy. “And go in the morning!” Honestly, he was just hopeful for some company. The months of loneliness had really taken a toll on his health, not that he’d admit it.

Dream seemed to debate it, then nodded. Outit’s face lit up and he abandoned trying to cling to Techno in favour of clinging to Innit instead. While wrestling Outit away, complaining about him being clingy, out of the corner of his eye he saw Tubbo turn away. He had a frown on his face and Tommy’s instinct immediately told him to console his friend.

Unfortunately, he never got the chance to as Outit suddenly asked, “Hey, can I go see L’Manburg? I wanna see how different it is from my own place.” He stepped back from Tommy and looked at Dream and Tubbo pleadingly. “ _ Pleeeeeaaaaaase _ ?”

Tubbo’s face contorted into a conflicted look. He glanced at Dream, who simply shrugged indifferently. Techno rolled his eyes with an expression that said ‘ _ might as well, I’m not taking him _ ’, and Tubbo relented with a sigh. “Sure.” 

“Alright! To the Nether portal!” Outit said. 

The group started towards the portal, but Dream looked at Technoblade and said blankly, “You’re not invited.” Grumbling, Techno left, leaving just the four. 

Dream stopped by the Nether portal and Innit stared longingly. “This is your stop, Innit.” He said. Tommy gave a broken look of sorrow and Outit’s face contorted into one of ~~**it’s probably pity**~~ sadness; he moved to console Innit, who batted away his hand.

Tommy knew better than to argue with Dream. 

He turned around and headed home, unaware or maybe just uncaring of the pathetic look of raw guilt that burned into his back. But maybe he looked back, just for a second, to meet Tubbo’s eyes in an unspoken promise of ‘see you soon’.

* * *

Tommy wandered back to Logsteadshire, tired and grumpy. He hardly cared about the still brightly glowing portal or how it was flaring in the exact same way it had when Outit had first come.

Well, if it was something hostile then  ~~**let it kill him** ~~ he’d just kill it. But Tommy was tired, and all he wanted was to go to sleep. And yet here he lay, wide awake in his tent as an increasing feeling of  _ wrong _ assaulted his senses.

A twig snap sent him flying out of his tent, sword poised for combat. 

“Tommy?” That was Dream’s voice, he thought they’d be spending the night in L’Manburg. He lowered his guard, shoving away his tiredness and putting up his cocky front.

“Oh, back alr-” Tommy was cut off as a figure who was  _ decisively not Dream _ enveloped him in a tight hug. “Tommy, we were looking everywhere for you! Geez, I was worried sick. Come on, your brothers and dad are waiting. How’d this portal even get here…” not-Dream blabbered to himself, dragging Tommy, who was too in shock to respond.

“Hold it, who are you?” Tommy struggled, and Not-Dream (Nightmare? Was that who came out of the portal when it flared up?) turned around in concern. 

“Tommy, are you alright? It’s me, y’know, Night? You must have hit your head, come on-” The grip on his hand tightened and Tommy was dragged forwards with a sudden force. 

Tommy screamed and punched Night, who was most definitely trying to kidnap him now, and attempted to run away. He didn’t get far before he tripped, like it was a plot-convinient event in some stupid anime that Phil watched. He felt a knee digging into his back, a whisper of “Sorry, Tommy,” and a dull blow to his head.

* * *

A bright light made him wince in pain and shut his eyes as Tommy groaned, trying to sit up in the stupidly soft bed-

Wait, bed? 

He sat up fully. A face peered over at him from across the large room, concern etched on his features. He had dirty blond, almost brown hair framing his face, red eyes blinking at him curiously.

“Hi,Tommy. Are you okay? Ghostbur almost killed me when I dragged you back he-” Tommy zoned out for a second. That was clearly Dream’s voice, but something crucial was missing from it. 

He thought for a second while the guy chattered on. Jeez, he was talkative. Something lit up in Tommy’s mind and he figured it out. It was the light, jovial tone with no menace underneath it. The reason he hadn’t recognised him sooner was because he wasn’t wearing his mask.

Looking closer, Tommy noted the red clothing. Red was like, opposite to green or something, right?

There was a sort of medieval theme to it, kind of like Techno. A thick belt encircled his waist, keeping the dull brown-red tunic secure and showing off his frame. High boots met gray-brown pants, both faded from time and use. The most prominent feature of the outfit was a large, bright wine red travel cloak that fell around him in billowing folds. He was fiddling with the hem of the cloak, where the threads had started to fray from months of fidgeting.

And there was the mask, leaning against a chest of drawers beside the bed across from the one he was sitting on. It was made of a black material that looked like obsidian, and etched on it in white was a cartoonish angry face. He could only imagine how much work it would’ve taken to chisel the shape if it really was hardened lava. The stuff was a pain to work with.

Tommy blinked, and at last something clicked. He’d never seen this room before in his life, and the man over there talking in Dream’s voice… was Nightmare.

So he  _ had _ been kidnapped.

Fuck.

“-And then he threatened to burn all my clothing, armour and property.” Nightmare finished. “Hey, by the way, when did you change your clothing? You always wear that blue shirt.” 

Tommy opened his mouth to respond, when a knock sounded at the door.

“Oh, they’re here!” Nightmare sprung up, then raced to the door. “Welcome, c’mon in guys!”

In strode varyingly weird versions of Philza, Technoblade and Ghostbur. “Thanks for inviting us to your house, Night,” not-Techno spoke, and Tommy jumped. His voice was quite expressive, and lighter in tone. It was almost terrifying how a normal amount of emotion was expressed in his voice. Tommy noticed that both men had noticeably less scars than his own Techno and Dream.

Oh well, he presumed original Dream would be ecstatic to hear that at least this version of him wasn’t homeless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In actuality, purple is the inversion of green. If we're getting into tertiary colours, it's more magenta-purple because of the lime green hue that Dream wears.  
> I decided to use complimentary colours instead of actual inversions because they are labeled 'opposites', but in reality they're not opposite in every single way. However, some are opposite in every way, and their colours are shown accordingly.
> 
> The 'opposite obsidian' is opal, by the way. Their universe doesn't have the word for it since it doesn't exist as a block.
> 
> Also we stan stupid Nightmare


	3. The Morning Bois Inc.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy meets the Morning Bois.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for not posting anything for a while, i had severe writer's block and i kept getting distracted by other things. I'm back now, and with a new chapter! Whoo!
> 
> Also this chapter was once again beta read by my awesome friend Closeted_Bookworm (thank you so much)

“Hey Tommy, how’re you doing?” Tecchie gently asked, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. Tommy held in a flinch, giving Tecchie a fake smile and saying that he was fine. 

Inside his mind, he had a thousand questions. Should he tell them, or lay low? Laying low wasn’t his style, but it came down to whether he had a choice or not. Strategizing wasn’t his forte, but right now, Tommy needed to act wisely.

If he decided to make a break for it, would he be able to take down the four of them? Night and Tecchie had an obvious lack of muscle, and since they were Dream and Technoblade’s presumed opposites, they had to suck at combat. Wilbur’s opposite, whatever he was named, had multiple scars and he looked fucking pissed beyond relief. Tommy didn’t think he could win against that man, if he wasn’t a ghost who Tommy could probably phase right through. Now that begged the question…

What about Phil? Or as Outit had called him, Red? Tommy gave a sidelong glance at the tall man. Like Phil, he wore a traditional kimono and a bucket hat, but that was about where the similarities ended.

His attire was a brilliant crimson hue, and the bucket hat had black instead of white stripes. He looked battle-worn and scarred, and the tattered draconic wings held a tired droop to them despite his alert posture. Tommy had been around Techno enough to be able to tell immediately that this was a veteran warrior.

But, Redza smiled apologetically at Tommy. “Sorry we had to leave you. I know you don’t like being alone, but I didn’t think it would turn into a search-and-rescue operation.” 

This man was an enigma.

“Stupid kid, getting into unnessecary trouble  _ again _ . They were worried to shit, Toms.” Ghostbur jabbed a thumb at Tecchie and Red. “Fuck, Nightmare was in tears when we found the portal. Kinda pathetic.”

Tommy blinked. Here was a family that wasn’t his, mistakenly caring for a boy who wasn’t theirs. Kind words, even if masked behind halfhearted jabs of unmeaningful dislike filled the air as Nightmare and Not-Ghostbur started arguing about something. Tecchie tried to break up the argument, while Red egged them on. 

“Hey, is Tommy okay? He hasn’t said ‘Language’ a single time and he looks…  _ Out of it. _ ” Tecchie’s words sliced through Tommy’s inner musings and he was jolted back to the waking world with a start. 

Not-Ghostbur waved his face in front of Tommy, who glared back at him with his usual scowl. “Woah, I think he’s broken. He looks  _ angry _ , guys.,” the man chuckled, almost as if he was amused by the sight, but his expression faltered when no one laughed along. 

“That’s no reason to say he’s broken, maybe whatever was on the other side of the portal scared him and he’s traumatized?” Tecchie protested.

“Psh, I could take them on,” Said Not-Ghostbur and Redza simultaneously.

“You can’t even hold a sword! You’re dead!” Exclaimed Redza.

Not-Ghostbur punched Red for the comment, who whacked him right back. It soon escalated into a full-blown brawl, objects being thrown and Nightmare looking like he regretted everything.

“Guys-” Tommy said, to no avail. The ruckus drowned him out.

“Uh, guys-” He tried once more, being louder but his voice fell on deaf ears as a chorus of ‘Fuck off’s and ‘Ow’s filled the air.

“WILL YOU GUYS FUCKING LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY!?” Tommy shrieked, and everything went silent. Tecchie stared with a dumbfounded look on his face, while Ghostbur’s opposite gave a distrustful glare. Red narrowed his eyes, and Nightmare started slowly edging towards the exit door.

“Why’re you swearing…” Ghostbur’s opposite muttered.

“Guys, I hate to say this, but I’m not the Tommy you’re looking for. I’m TommyInnit. Outit’s probably still back with Dream in L’Manburg-” 

He was cut off by Other Ghostbur, who coldly snapped, “Shut up Tommy, Night must’ve hit your fuckin’ head too hard. You’re being delusional.”

Tommy’s jaw tightened. “Shut the fuck up, Ghostbur. I’m  _ SAYING _ you have the wrong person! Nightmare can testify, look at my shirt.” He shrugged off the covers of the bed, which he had unconsciously wrapped himself in. 

“See? Red. Outit wears the green-blue colour.” He lifted his arms up for emphasis. Tecchie looked confused, Not-Ghostbur suspicious and disbelieving. Redza had hidden his eyes under his hat.

Tecchie spoke first. “So you really aren’t Tommy?” 

He shook his head. “Well, technically I’m  _ a _ Tommy. Just not yours…” Tommy sighed. “It would help if you guys just led me back to the portal and let me go home.” 

“Say, where is Nightmare anyway?” Tecchie asked. “Not-Ghostbur, did you see where he went?”

The annoyed-looking ghost replied, “Yeah, he left the room right after- Wait, what kind of a fuckin’ name is ‘Not-Ghostbur’? Of course I’m Ghostbur!” He raised his voice.

“I don’t even know your stupid name!” Tommy cried out. “Everyone else has different names, I assumed you’d have a different one too.”

Ghostbur sighed. “Smoke.”

Tommy looked up from trying to steady his hands, which were trembling, betraying his nervousness around the ghost. Unlike Ghostbur, who gave out a serene, joyful feel, this man radiated a vibe of unrest and anger. “Huh?”

“Ghostbur Smoke, idiot. I’m telling you my name.” 

Tommy thought about it for a second. “Mind if I just call you Smokebur?” 

Smokebur scowled and turned away, which disappointed him slightly. But it wasn’t a ‘no’, so he’d use it anyway. 

“Anyway, I hope no one’s raided my home already. It would suck,” Tommy grumbled, hopping out of bed and trying to ignore the dull aching that came from the back of his head where Nightmare had bashed it with the hilt of his axe. 

He’d have to punch Night for that later.

Exiting the door with Red, Tecchie and Smokebur close behind him, Tommy looked around in confusion. This was the Greater SMP… 

“Oh, Night brought you here to take care of you. I kept saying you’d recover fine even in Logstedshire, but he  _ insisted-  _ something about healthcare.” Smokebur rolled his eyes.

Tommy glanced around in awe at the place. Back home had some really good builders, but this place was unabashedly gorgeous.

Structures here and there practically shone in the midday light, as breathtaking yet comforting as what L’Manburg used to be. There were a variety of styles, but everything somehow tied together in a beautiful sprawling skyline that put the haphazard cobblestone and wood builds from back home to shame. 

“Yeah, it’s just a huge fucking flex. Nightmare basically built most of these himself,” Redza sighed. “The Greater SMP does look a lot better than Manburg, probably because other than Outit, we didn’t have many good builders.”

Tommy blinked, wondering if he’d misheard what Redza had said. “Sorry, did you just say ‘Manburg’?” He inquired sharply. Was Jschlatt still alive?

“Uh, yeah. After S. Jlatt died Toobo kept the name as Manburg, negating your- Tommy’s previous decree,” Redza replied. 

Toobo again. Tommy didn’t like this guy, whoever he thought he was. To be completely truthful with himself, no matter what angle he looked at it from, Toobo seemed like a horrible person.

The four of them arrived at the Nether portal, Tommy hesitantly hopping in first. The swirling violet particles enveloped him as he felt the usual twisting and wrenching of his gut as it transported him. Nether portals were unpleasant things to use, but useful in the long run.

Stumbling out, Tommy’s eyes adjusted to the dim light of the Nether fairly quickly and he walked quickly along the path to Logstedshire. He stayed out of the Nether as much as possible, disliking how the lava bubbled and popped, beckoning him into its burning embrace. He thought about it more often than he’d like to admit. 

The walk there was quiet and uneventful, Tommy uncharacteristically silent for once. When the group reached the portal, he hopped through as fast as he could. 

Tommy made sure to close his eyes so he wouldn’t be temporarily blinded when he walked out. When he opened them, he gave a slight inhale.

Whereas his own Logstedshire had a shitty tent and some other structures not even worth mentioning, this one had a huge wooden fort encircling several smaller structures, barrels and even a small farm. There were watchtowers on the corners and a large front gate reinforced by thick iron rods. 

“Woah…” Tommy breathed. “Did  _ I _ build this?” he asked Ghostbur.

“Duh, you built this. Nightmare and Tecchie helped too.” At this, Tommy scowled. They probably helped him out of pity, and Outit was just too dumb to tell the difference betwen pity and regret.

“Huh.” Tommy started looking for the portal pit, scanning the general area around. Soon enough, he found it. It was a little ways away from the fort, and he dropped down with minimal effort. But when he got there, he gave a yell of shock.

Smokebur and Redza dropped down after hearing Tommy yell, Tecchie following more hesitantly.

“The portal went out,” Tommy said. Ghostbur rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah, so what? Just re-light it with a flint and steel. Anyone got one?” he asked. Tecchie nodded and produced a worn-out flint and steel that probably only had three or four uses left. He handed it to Tommy, who took it and struck it together, creating a large spark.

Nothing happened. Confused, Tommy struck it again, in the middle of the portal. One more time he tried to light it, and the flint and steel broke.

There was still no sign of the portal activating. Tommy felt himself crumple, his legs giving out from under him and dread settling in his stomach like an unwelcome parasite.

“Well, fuck,” said Smokebur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm yes, content. Remember to comment, constructive criticism helps make my writing better and I can always use some suggestions! Also i thrive off of praise, nutritional value be damned. 
> 
> Question of the day, who's your favorite Morning Boi so far?
> 
> *fades back into my void of Danganronpa*


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